The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Timelines
by TheLeftFootedSultan
Summary: The timeline split; perhaps the most impactful event in Hyrule's history. For centuries, the three eras continued, completely independent of each other, with nobody knowing that the other timelines even existed. Until now. Certain triangular artifacts possesses the ability to merge the three. However, who would do so, and why? Linked universe, but also not typical at all.
1. The Saga Begins

**Thanks for taking the time to read this story! I've read quite a few linked universe stories, but they often follow a rigid pattern, so I figured I could try something completely different for this one. It is rated T, but there will be no profanity whatsoever (barring some random word that is considered to be in another culture), but the story will be quite dark (more than Majora's Mask probably), so read at your own risk if you are on the younger side. Hope you enjoy!**

**Note: Chapter one was rewritten as of 3/9/20, adding in the region of four thousand words **

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Timelines

"Hey, Link, did you hear the news?" The shout yanked the Hero of Twilight out of his reverie and back into the present. He had always found the back alleys of Castle Town a good place to be alone with his thoughts, but now, the man had interrupted. Link sighed. "What news would that be, Egon?" Egon was clearly disturbed, the hero thought. The man's breath was heavy, and his clothing drenched in sweat. Something unfortunate had happened. "A man was found dead outside the West Gate. Nobody knows who he is."

The messenger had arrived shortly before noon, his horses hoofbeats echoing through the air mid-morning air. Link had heard the man approach, and was sitting in front of his house by the time the messenger reached the clearing. "Message from Princess Zelda, sir!" The man announced grandly, handing Link a letter. The hero exhaled slowly. Zelda had promised to let him live his life in Ordon village in peace, unless something extremely unfortunate happened. But then again, it could just be an invitation to her coronation, due in the next few weeks. Link stared at the letter for a moment or two, before the messenger spoke up. "Has the message been delivered, sir?" He asked with an edge in his voice. Link looked up, annoyance evident on his face. "Are couriers usually this rude? I can't say I've experienced it before." The man looked haughtily at him. "Of course we are, sir," he retorted, before riding off. Muttering angrily to himself, Link climbed the ladder to his house. However, all thought of the messenger was banished as he read the letter. It was no more than two sentences, but his eyebrows shot up as he read.

_ Link, I have reason to believe an unknown individual is hatching some sort of nefarious plot within the castle. Please hurry, I don't know how much time we have left._

The hero stood completely still for a good ten seconds before leaping into action. He kept the Master Sword on his back for all his waking hours, and his Hylian Shield hung just a few feet away. He had a brief mental debate as to which items he would bring. "I'd like to bring them all, but if I show up equipped for a battle, it might tip our hand," he told himself. Accordingly, he grabbed his bow, Clawshots, lantern (you never know when you might need it), and a bag of bombs. Anything else would look suspicious, given his reputation. Link quickly saddled Epona, and rode off quickly to the castle.

Link arrived just one hour later. Normally, he would have paused at the top of the last ridge, just to admire the castle. But alas, this was definitely not normal times. Thankfully the guards let him through quickly, almost without looking. He frowned. What if he had been the King Bulblin, riding a giant boar, come to burn, rob, and kill the townspeople? They would have been completely unprepared.

The Hero of Twilight hurried through the vast halls and narrow corridors of Hyrule Castle. A few servants had glanced up at him, but quickly looked back to whatever they were doing before. That was odd. He always met Zelda in the same place, but now he realized how irresponsible that decision had been. What if that threat knew of the place, and set up an ambush? He sighed at the thought. The reason they had chosen this obscure hallway, so far from anywhere, was because you couldn't tell if there were people inside it unless you walked all the way in, thanks to the shadows, but also because a person entering was silhouetted against the bright corridor. Link would have to commit without any knowledge of what lies ahed. "There's no reason to suspect that the plotter knows anything about this area," he said aloud. "I guess all this talk about scheming has made me jumpy." With that thought, he set off i to the dark hallway.

The passage was gloomy, indeed sinister, thanks to the complete lack of windows, or even torches, there. After all, nobody ever went in, so why bother wasting resources lighting it? The silence was deafening, the only sound that of his heart pounding nervously. The meeting place itself was marked by a massive statue of some long-forgotten monarch of days past. Anything could lurk behind it, waiting to- "There's nothing there, Link. Stop letting the atmosphere get to you," he told himself out loud, in annoyance. He finally reached the statue, and looking behind it, saw... nothing. No monsters, no Zelda, nothing. He chuckled at that. However, that drowned out the sound of somebody walking incredibly quietly behind him, and he heard nothing until a quiet voice behind him, definitely not Zelda's, spoke a single word. "Link."

As soon as he heard that... whatever it was... Link rolled forward quickly, to get out of reach of a possible blow, and drew his sword in the same movement. He spun around, preparing for absolutely anything to stand where he had been. However, what he saw was definitely not what he expected. A dark shape, slightly built, and several inches shorter than Link himself, who was not exactly famous for hight. The figure lit a lantern as he watched, and the hero recognized the uniform of the royal family's personal attendants, worn by a boy around the age of twelve. Link frowned. "Is that you, Colin?" He asked. The boy nodded. "I'm sorry for sneaking up on you like that," Colin said, "but Princess Zelda was insistent that I had to deliver this letter to you." The hero raised an eyebrow. His initial sense of alarm had long faded by now, and he had to imagine Colin had it worse, waiting in the dark for goodness knows how long, unsure if Link would even come. "She didn't just meet me in person?" Link asked. "I'm surprised, knowing her." Colin sighed. "Her majesty is... perhaps it would be better if she explained it herself," he trailed off sadly. A wave of concern washed over Link, replacing the all too short-lived happiness from meeting an old friend. "The letter should at least give you an opportunity to find out what's going on here. There's more than meets the eye." With that, Colin handed the letter over. Link scanned through it quickly. "Zelda wants to meet me in her quarters as soon as possible, to explain." Colin nodded. "That is correct. Good luck, Link. If anyone can get to the bottom of this, you can." The hero smiled faintly. "Thank you. It was nice seeing you again, although I wish the circumstances were a bit more favorable." With that he saluted the lad, and hurried off to Zelda's quarters.

Link quickly reached the door to the Princess's apartment, finding, to his surprise, a half-dozen guards at her door. He walked up to them purposefully. "I need to see her majesty, it's urgent." The senior officer (senior being a bit of a misnomer, the man couldn't yet be twenty-five years old) answered apologetically. "I'm sorry, sir, but her majesty is extremely ill at the moment, and it has been demonstrated to be contagious. She thought is would be better if as fee people as physically possibly had to come and go." Link thought furiously. If the guards were turncoats, the less he pushed to get in, the less the unknown villain would know. "That makes sense. Very well," he sighed. With that, he turned and walked down the tower steps, his mind racing. Searching for a quiet place to process all of this information, he found himself in that dark alley in Castle Town, pacing frantically, at least until Egon had arrived. But now somebody was dead. What was going on at the castle?

Link sprinted furiously through the town, narrowly avoiding bowling somebody over on multiple occasions. The West Gate was only a two minute walk from his alley in the south of the small city, and easily less at his current pace. Several guards were heading the same direction, so he was still fairly early. There was no sign of anything strange at the gate itself, so the man must be on the bridge. He sped off into the tunnel. He'd funded the 1500 rupees to repair that bridge himself during his adventure. A crowd had gathered of the Hero of Twilight bridge (Link had resisted that name, but the townspeople were brutally stubborn at times). Sure enough, a man's body lay, blood seeping into the wood planks. Link went down on one knee beside the man to get a closer look. He had an absolutely colossal mustache that stretched almost from ear to ear, and eyebrows that were taller than the eyes they partially covered. His nose was almost a perfect square, reaching down far enough to cover a part of that incredible mustache. His skin was almost yellow in complexion, and his incredibly long arms were so hairy that they legitimately appeared black in places. Even the back of his hands had that hair. His stomach was... well, to put it bluntly, he was quite overweight, and the red shirt, covered by blue overalls, looked incredibly tight as a result. Link frowned. "I've never seen this man before," he whispered. "Why is he so familiar?"

Shaking his head to clear it, Link turned his attention to more pressing matters. The man's injuries were quite severe. It was clear whoever or whatever killed him wanted to leave no chance he'd survive. A massive gash across his forehead, puncture wounds in his stomach, and what looked like a club hit to the back of his skull. A human likely would have been much more subtle. No, there was only one creature alive that would do this. But that was impossible, they were extinct. "This looks like the work of Bokoblins," the hero announced aloud. "But I wiped them out after Ganondorf fell. How could they be back?" He rolled the man over. There were even more wounds on his back, and even a broken knife still lodged there. It was undeniably Bokoblin in design. "This was likely what killed him. It went directly into his heart. Hopefully it went in first, so he didn't have to live long with that many knives in his back." Link shook his head. If there was any way to tell such a thing, he didn't know it. He looked up. His senses were much better than the average Hylian's, largely thanks to spending so much time as a wolf. There were definitely several pairs of footprints, far too large to be anybody from the town. They led away from the bridge, into West Hyrule Field. Link rose from his crouch. "There are footprints leading away, too big to be a Hylian. I'm following them. Keep a good watch at all three gates, not just this one." With that, he took off into the fields, in hot pursuit of the monsters responsible for the crime.

Thankfully, Bokoblins had no sense of subtlety whatsoever, as evidenced by the man's body, and they weren't attempting to cover their tracks at all. They were also likely just taking the shortest possible path to their destination. They were definitely heading south, towards Kakariko Gorge and South Hyrule Field. As long as they don't go to the village... Hopefully they didn't have much of a head start over him. Suddenly, a group of Leevers erupted from the ground around him. Link sighed. Leevers were just a waste of time, not really dangerous at all. He simply jumped over the ring and kept running. The Bokoblins were thankfully too far east to be going to the town. But what did they intended to do in the fields? "One way to find out," Link said out loud.

He soon crossed over into the Kakariko Gorge portion of Hyrule Field. The monsters were just visible across the plains. "They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them." They were at the entrance of Lantern Cavern? "Well, at least I know where they are heading. That cave could be tricky," Link thought aloud. "Only one thing to do." He set off for the dark cave. Using the Hawkeye, he was able to watch them enter the subterranean maze. "It's official now. I hope this isn't a trap." He accelerated as far as his legs would allow, and set his gaze directly on the gaping hole in the rock.

Link had cleared Lantern Cavern One (as he referred to it mentally) fairly early in his adventure to free the land from the clutches of twilight. It was a maze of small passages, equally small open "rooms", and occasionally monsters waiting in the blackness to ambush a reckless explorer. It was much, much darker than it had been originally. Last time, he could see decently without any portable light source. No such luck this time. Fortunately, Link had brought his lantern from home, because without a source of light, a person's chances of survival were nearly zero. Thankfully, Bokoblins could see as well as Hylians in the dark, so they'd need a painfully obvious light too. Link took a deep breath, then plunged into the pitch black cave. Unbeknownst to him, however, a pair of orange eyes in the dark scuttled away quickly. "My master will be very interested to hear this news," the creature thought.

The Hero of Twilight advanced cautiously through the empty cavern, lantern in hand, illuminating the pitch black expanse. It was surprisingly cold this far underground. Nothing compared to Snowpeak, but still quite cool. Those Bokoblins were still missing, however, it was a massive cave, so they could just be deeper. He sighed and pressed on. It was nearly silent in the passage, the only sound a quiet whistling from the wind hitting the cave entrance at just the right angle. He stopped suddenly. Were those footsteps ahed of him? He put out his lantern quickly. A glimmer of light flashed in the distance, moving toward him slowly. He ducked into a side passage, and waited for whatever was coming.

The first sound that reached Link's ears was a reptilian hiss, one that he had only ever heard from a single race of creature. As he had the thought, a very large lizard-like monster walked past. It was impressively tall, possibly a foot taller than Link himself, and painfully thin, almost to the point where it looked starved. The monster was covered in heavy armor, and carried a large shield. It was followed by two more of the same species, and behind that, an uncomfortably large (between eight and twelve, Link wasn't sure) party of Lizalfos. They were marching toward the entrance, looking fully prepared for battle. An attack with this many monsters could easily wipe out Kakariko Village, even with the soldiers now stationed there. Link groaned inwardly. He'd have to let the Bokoblins escape deeper into the cave. This party of lizards was just too dangerous. As he had the thought, a high-pitched shriek? Grumble? He wasn't sure how to describe it, but the sound clearly came from Bokoblins. The Lizalfos stopped, and appeared to be waiting. Pretty soon, the two parties met. Link was completely unsure what to expect. The two races of monsters hated each other, but were willing to cooperate if given a good reason. That reason had come from Ganondorf one year ago, but who knows how this interaction would go? The leaders of the two groups had advanced to meet each other. They stared at the other for a solid thirty seconds. The silence was almost painful, the only sound Link's fierce heartbeat in his ears. Eventually, the monsters began making their respective obnoxious shrieking noises at each other. At this point, fighting out of here would likely end poorly, given the sheer number of dangerous foes in such a tight space. However, the painful conversation between the two captains seemed to be going peacefully. After about two minutes, the two parties set off on their respective ways; Lizalfos to the outside world, Bokoblins deeper into the cave. As the latter passed, Link quickly inspected their swords. The lighting was far from ideal, but none of them seemed to have any blood on them. Hopefully that meant nobody had died at the hands of that particular group. However, the larger party of Lizalfos were still a major threat. As soon as the smaller party had passed him, he set off in pursuit of the lizard-like monsters.

As he exited the cave, Link had the unpleasant feeling he was being watched. He whirled around. Behind him stood a pair of glowing orange eyes. They were either a long way back, or just incredibly low to the ground. The second seemed most likely. He drew his sword, and the creature retreated with a squeak. Somehow, Link got the impression that the sound conveyed bemusement. He shook his head. That seemed pretty fanciful, but he had been able to communicate with animals before. Perhaps a tiny amount of that ability had bled over to his human form? Whatever that creature was, it couldn't be friendly. At best, it was a random rat, merely inspecting the intruder into its domain. At worst, though, it could be informing something more dangerous than a Bokoblin about his presence. He shook his head. The eyes were gone now. It was definitely time to leave this place.

The Lizalfos were heading straight north, directly toward Kakariko, at a ferocious rate. Link would need to risk drawing unnecessary attention and call Epona, just so that he'd make it in time to participate in a possible battle that would go very poorly without him. He sighed, and pulled out his horse whistle. It had been given to him by an old friend during his adventure, and his horse could hear it from anywhere in Hyrule. Hopefully she was close enough to make it in time. He inhaled, and then blew three notes into it. Before they were faded, he blew the same notes again. It was a very old tune, and Link was still unsure how he'd learned it. Perhaps he'd been too young to remember the event? However he learned it, the sound worked. Epona came galloping across Hyrule Field. He mounted quickly, and set off in pursuit of the incredibly fast monsters.

As he rode, Link fell into deep thought. Something had united the Lizalfos and Bokoblins. That was highly concerning in and of itself. However, for some reason, the former were attacking a large settlement. Something was going on behind the scenes. Was it all an elaborate diversion so that whatever plot was being hatched the castle could be carried out? If so, it would likely work, because he was duty-bound to stop innocent people from being murdered over investigating questionable evidence in the castle. Hopefully, it was all a coincidence, but something had caused the two races to stop hating each other, and history shouted from numerous examples that such a thing was not easy. Too many attempted usurpers in the last 150 years had tried such a thing, only to get torn to pieces, often literally, by one race or the other. Whatever it was... But now he'd some up on the party. He rode straight through the middle of the group, unleashing a spin attack on the way through, injuring several of the monsters. Thankfully, none of them had a bow, so he was pretty much safe from a counterattack now that he had gotten through the group. They started hissing in fury, and somehow accelerated even further to chase him into town. The soldiers would have about two minutes to prepare before the attack reached the village itself. Epona sped through town, attracting quite a few confused stares. He slid to a stop in front of the large guard building that had been erected next to the bomb shop, and pounded on the door as hard as he could. "I'm awake! What do you want?" an irritable voice asked. "There's a small army of Lizalfos about to attack the village, you absolute tomfool!" Link shouted back. "Get out here and protect the townspeople!" He heard a loud crash through the door, and the man grunted loudly. "Sound the alarm, we're under attack!" the guard shouted. An alarm bell began to ring, and a lot of noise began coming through the door to Link. He shook his head. "I guess that's good enough," the hero said to himself. The civilians were running out of their houses to see what the alarm was about, which seemed like a silly idea, given that the alarm would only ring for an outside threat. He sprinted back to the south gate into town, intending to lock it and stall the attack further. But instead, he was faced with the full horde of monsters, looking right at him with murderous glares. He drew the Master Sword and stood calmly, waiting for the inevitable charge. He didn't have to wait long, and the monsters rushed forward in a frenzied stampede.

Link calmly sidestepped the first blow, and countered it by slamming his shield into the Lizalfos's ribs, then leaping over its head, thrusting his sword into his target as he flew. One down, eleven to go. He quickly unleashed a great spin, leveling all but the three heavily armored foes. Sadly, they weren't dead yet, but Link picked off another with an Ending Blow. He took a hit from one of the armored ones on his shield, and thrust his sword into the chest of a different monster. Suddenly, he felt an impact in his back. A spiked tail had found its mark. He grunted in pain, but it would take a good deal more than that to bring the Hero of Twilight down when he had a clear objective. Link backflipped twice, just to get the monsters behind him to a point where he could see them, and spun around again. Sadly, no great spin this time, as he was no longer brimming with life energy after the hits, but still a dangerous attack. Three Lizalfos fell and exploded into nothingness. Just five of the unarmored left, plus the three elite soldiers with heavy armor. Another blow caught him on the shoulder, but Link quickly blocked the pain out of his mind and focused on the job at hand. One of the tougher ones lowered its guard for just an instant, but that was long enough. He slashed at the creature's feet, cutting one clean off, and forcing it to the ground, where he ended the monster's life with the Ending Blow. All seven remaining foes took a step back at that. Link smiled wolfishly. "Which one of you wants to try me next?" he challenged. They looked at each other for a few seconds, and all charged simultaneously.

Link quickly rolled around to the side of the mass of bodies, and pushed himself up from the ground, spinning in midair, sword extended. The move was known as a Back Slice, and it once again proved lethal, eliminating two more of the unarmored monsters. Another sharp tail cut him in the calf. He spun around just in time to block the follow-up blow, and decapitated the monster responsible. Suddenly, one of the armored monsters broke off from the battle, and started sprinting toward the village. Link turned to give chase, and received a foot to the back for his troubles. He hit the ground fairly hard, and scrambled back to his feet. However, the monster was fully past him by now, and he needed to deal with the close one first. He slammed his shield into the monster's face, and followed it up with a quick thrust. The lizard's face showed confusion, then surprise, and finally, no expression at all as it fell. However, Link's blood ran cold as he heard screams coming from the village.

The Hero of Twilight sprinted harder than he ever had before, back into the village. A few soldiers were desperately trying to hold off the monster, but they were no match for its lethal combination of speed and strength. Two fell as he watched, and it ran over to the nearest building and began heavily pounding the door. As he grew close, Link began shouting loudly, trying to distract it from the people inside. Sure enough, the reptile turned to face him. He promptly put his shoulder in its chest and sent it flying off the porch of the house. The two combatants landed next to each other in the main street. Link recovered first, and leaped on top on the monster, drawing the Lizalfos's own knife from its sheath and attempting to drive the weapon into his opponent's throat. The lizard was able to grab his forearm as it came down, and it became a battle of brute strength. Link pushed as hard as he could, and slowly began driving the blade downward. He gritted his teeth. This was a battle he refused to lose. Suddenly, the monster rolled violently to the left, standing as it did. The sudden lack of opposition caused the hero to fall forward, landing on the ground. He rolled over frantically, just in time to catch the monster's arm as it attempted the same maneuver. Now their positions were reversed. The blade came slowly downward. He'd barely been stronger in the first round, and that was with gravity on his side. Now, however, the fickle force was against him. Sweat ran into Link's eyes. He shoved upward with every ounce of his strength, but he was pushing against the monster's full body weight now. The blade moved up just an inch or two, before resuming the slow, inexorable advance downward. He could see the reptile licking its lips in anticipation. Suddenly, the monster yanked its feet off the ground, and Link frantically rolled to the side to avoid the blade. A small gash ran down the side of his neck, but it wasn't deep, and he could worry later. If there was a later. The two combatants returned to their respective positions, and the battle began anew. He bucked and heaved, but to little avail. Link closed his eyes, preparing all the strength he had left for one last, desperate effort. Suddenly, he took his left hand off the monster's arm, and rolled to the side to avoid the blade. Caught off guard, the lizard fell forward, and Link was now beside it. He planted a savage punch in the monster's forearm, feeling bones snap beneath his hand. A pained shriek came from his opponent. He yanked the knife from the suddenly limp hand, and drove it into the Lizalfos's skull. One last agonized hiss came from it, and it went completely limp. Link rose to his feet, breathing heavily. The village had been saved.

Link strode purposefully through Lantern Cavern, cutting down the occasional Bokoblin as he did. He was going to learn what was in here to cause the monsters to become so aggressive, and nothing was going to stop him. A few rats and Keese squeaked in the darkness, but nothing came out to face him. A Lizalfos leaped out of the darkness, but one quick thrust ended that threat. He resumed his inexorable advance. A powerful sense of foreboding slowly began to sink into Link's bones. Some powerful evil waited at the back of this place. He shivered. Had the cave grown significantly colder in the last minute or two? What could possibly be here?

As he grew farther from the entrance, the temperature steadily dropped. It had to be close to freezing the water in his canteens at this point, and the hero was still relatively close yo the surface. The cave itself was relatively short, but the five minutes trek felt like several hours. Some force at the back did not want him there, and was determined to slow him, either physically or mentally. However, Link was more determined to reach the end, so reach it he did. However, what he saw caught him completely off-guard. That strange, perfectly flat rock that marked the back wall of the final section was gone, resulting in a tunnel that ran down quite steeply. What could be down there? Some ancient, nameless evil, waiting to be awoken? Link exhaled slowly. "One way to find out," he told himself, and set off down the tunnel.

After a few minutes of steep descent, the small passage opened up into a massive cavern. It had to be the size of the throne room in Hyrule Castle, if not larger. A vast chasm ran down the center, spanned by a bridge constructed of stone. Strange, eerie rocks glowed green in the darkness. There was enough light at this point to render his lantern unnecessary, which was fairly lucky given the oil was running low, and he only had one bottle with more. After a few minutes of walking, Link drew near to the bridge. It looked quite dilapidated, but should be strong enough to hold his weight. Should. He kicked it a few times, and it seemed solid. It was quite a long bridge, so if it failed in the middle... Link shook his head. "What if I get struck by lightning? No point in being that pessimistic." He stepped up on to the rough stone, and set off.

His foot came down on solid ground again, and the hero breathed a sigh of relief. There had been that nagging doubt in the back of his mind the whole time. Suddenly he noticed the paintings on the walls. Many of them depicted a man on a horse, brandishing a trident. Link shuddered. He'd recognize that red hair anywhere. Why were there drawings of Hyrule's greatest enemy here? This place didn't feel evil in and of itself. No, the nagging menace was from another source.

He pressed on. The malice grew to a nearly unbearable level. The very air he breathed began to feel hostile, like it was watching him, waiting for an opportunity. The temperature was painfully low, almost at the level of Snowpeak. The cave was so silent that the silence itself began to feel like a sound. Something was glowing green in the darkness ahed, and it wasn't more of those rocks. The floor was littered with rubble, so not tripping was a struggle. There was a bit of a cliff ahed, perhaps he'd be able to see what was glowing. A spiral of green magic floated through the air, consisting of letters in a language Link had never seen before. At the base lay a body. He recognized it instantly. So this is where the Dark Lord had been buried. Seeing the man lie on the floor of the cave brought back unpleasant memories. He hadn't changed at all from the day Link had driven the Master Sword into the Gerudo's chest. But he had clearly died, so how was the corpse not decayed at all? Some dark magic was at work here, and it made the hero uneasy. However, there was nothing he could do, and as long as Ganondorf didn't rise from the dead, it was no big deal, right? He gave one last, long look at the body, and began to turn. However, something interrupted him. A flash of movement drew his eye back to the corpse, but nothing seemed to have changed. Perhaps it was just a rat? But either way... "I wondered when you'd come along, hero," a voice behind him whispered contemptuously.

**Who could that be? It's not Ganondorf, I'll reveal that much. I originally played the game on Wii, so left and right are reversed compared to the Gamecube and WiiU versions of the game. You probably figured that one out though. ****I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and I apologize in advance for my incredibly inconsistent upload schedule. See you next mission!**


	2. Do You Want a Battle Scene?

Chapter 2

**Oh, darn, I forgot that disclaimer. I do not own Star Wars. If I did, Disney would not have had an opportunity to make any of the trainwrecks that they have**

The Hero of Spirits stood at the controls of the Spirit train, wind running through his hair, his small, eleven-year-old frame fitting easily inside the small locomotive. "That's one advantage in being short," he mused. "Still, I'd rather have a few inches more reach." Longer arms would definitely have come in handy, as, despite his young age, Link had already undertaken more adventures than almost everybody he'd ever meet. "What's that?" a voice hollered from the passenger car. "Just thinking out loud, Alfonzo," he shouted back. The man was building a train from scratch, and needed parts from the castle. Link had been in town, and volunteered to take him. Always looking for an opportunity to watch Link's increasingly famous skill at the helm, in addition to the legendary performance of the Spirit Train itself, Alfonzo gladly accepted. As a result, they were careening across New Hyrule, avoiding hitting anything entirely because of the engineer.

The ride was a mere four minutes on an ordinary train, much less on the fastest in all the land, and the tracks were unusually empty today. Before Alfonzo even had an opportunity to be concerned about the massive speed they were traveling at, Link had gotten them to the castle safely. "Do you need help with picking out the parts?" the lad asked, after they had pulled up to the station. Alfonzo shook his head. "I should have it, thank you though. Besides," he teased, "this gives you more time with Princess Zelda." Link went bright red as Alfonzo walked off, laughing loudly. The fact that he had already been planning to go there didn't help.

New Hyrule Castle Town Square was incredibly full, to the point where Link was hard-pressed to push his way through the crowds. There were an unusually large amount of guards, presumably because the odds of a pickpocket or spy were significantly larger. He struggled his way to one of the officers. "What's going on, Lieutenant ? Why are there so many people?" The captain sighed. "If you don't know, kid..." The officer shook his head. Then he recognized Link. "Oh, hello mister hero. I'd recommend you speak to Princess Zelda. She can explain much better than I can." The hero nodded slowly. "Thanks, Lieutenant. I hope I can help with whatever is wrong."

Link strolled confidently into the castle, nodding greetings to the guard captain and his second-in-command. The hero had posed as a recruit to the Hyrulian soldiers for a large part of his adventure, but Zelda had officially inducted him afterward, and, once the situation had been explained, any ruffled feathers were sufficiently smoothed. He had, after all, been extremely good at combat already. On closer inspection, the soldiers looked unusually tired. They had likely been working double shifts with the massive number of people in town, and that was before a possible sinister reason behind the crowds. Link shook his head. It must definitely not be a pleasant situation to be in. He exhaled heavily. Time to learn what was going on.

A few minutes later, he knocked on the door to Zelda's quarters. "Come in," she shouted through the door. Link pushed the door open, and carefully closed it behind him. He knew from experience that it was a particularly painful door to close on your foot. It clicked shut, and the hero looked up quickly. He gasped in horror at what he saw. Zelda looked horrible. There were massive bags under her eyes, and she was even more pale than normal. Still she managed a smile at the sight of him. "What happened?" Link blurted out. Zelda sighed. "There have been fairly heavy raids on the castle at least once a day. Somebody has united the monsters more than they have ever been. Even Malladus never managed to actually attack the castle."

The hero's eyes widened. "Attacks on the castle? How have I not heard of this?" The princess shook her head sadly. "They take out anybody who leaves, either on foot or by train. Steal anything valuable, and drag them away to an uncertain fate. If I had confirmation that they are still alive, I would be much more relaxed. They let absolutely anybody in to the castle, as you saw. The more people trapped inside, the easier it is for the monsters to do whatever they are planning." Link looked down at his boots thoughtfully. "I may be able to get you that information. How are the food supplies at the moment?" Zelda frowned. "Not great. We have provisions for three weeks. Why do you ask?" Link looked back up now, smiling slyly. "I figured I could tail one of their raiding parties back to base. There has to be somewhere that the monsters store all the resources and people that they take. It could be useful knowledge to have." Zelda looked interested for a few seconds, but eventually shook her head. "You'd possibly sacrifice a group of random people on a hunch? It's a good idea, but the circumstances required to convince people to participate..." The hero grimaced. "You're probably right, as usual." They both sank into unhappy thoughts. However, the hero and princess were violently shaken out of their depression at the sound of a massive explosion.

"What in New Hyrule south of the Tower of Spirits was that?" Link shouted. They both ran to the nearest window and looked out. A large party of monsters were milling around a large hole in the castle wall that hadn't existed a few minutes before. He looked around frantically, searching for a way to get down from the tower quickly. The hero saw nothing helpful in the room, so he rummaged frantically around in his bag, looking around outside the window for something. He nodded quickly as he saw it, and pulled out the Spirit Flute and whip. Zelda looked at him quizzically as he jumped up on to the windowsill, and began playing the instrument at a ferocious rate. A large bird swooped down. Turning around to salute the princess, Link jumped backwards out the window, grabbing the bird's talons with the whip as he did so. The birds had been able to carry Link's full body weight a year before, but he had grown quite a bit in that time. As a result, his avian ally was descending, instead of flying level, but at a manageable rate. After about fifteen seconds of this, Link pulled the whip off the bird and hit the ground rolling, completely free of injury. The townspeople were all fleeing toward him, so going the opposite direction of the stream seemed like a safe bet to get to combat. The Hero of Spirit set off as fast as his short legs would carry him, towards the sound of battle.

The ugly racket of sword on sword and shield grated painfully on his ears, even at a distance, and the metallic smell of blood filled the air. A few smaller explosions rang out occasionally, likely an individual soldier throwing bombs. As he drew closer, the cacophony grew louder and louder, until it seemed there was nothing in the entire kingdom other than burning houses, blood-drenched bodies, and the colossal noise of battle. Link tripped on a... to be honest, he wasn't sure what it was. He landed heavily on the cobblestone road, his left shoulder taking most of his body weight. Link grunted in pain. It seemed to the hero that nothing was broken, but it would stiffen in a few hours, significantly hindering his sword arm. He stood up and continued running, suddenly bursting into the town square. He'd found the battle. The volume at this short distance was the loudest thing he had ever heard, almost deafening. Link paused for a few seconds, then threw himself into the brawl.

There was no defined front line, just a shoving mass of bodies, in a series of one-on-one duels. There was also almost no skill at this point. You were either stronger or faster than your opponent, and took advantage, or you were dead. The Hyrulean Knights were doing an admirable job holding, but sheer weight of numbers was beginning to prevail. Link's first target was a massive Stalfos Warrior brandishing two swords, each almost as tall as Link himself. Their gazes met at almost exactly the same time, and immediately one of the swords came whistling down at a terrifying speed. Link calmly sidestepped the blow, and swung the Lokomo Sword at the skeleton's left elbow, shearing the forearm clean off. The Stalfos shrieked painfully at that, and swung the other sword horizontally. However, it was used to fighting fully grown adults, not eleven year old kids, and the sword was too high. Link ducked easily under the stroke, swinging his whip at the hilt of the blade. The whip missed the sword, and wrapped around the wrist of the Stalfos instead. Dropping the Lokomo Sword for a moment, the hero grabbed the whip in both hands and pulled with every ounce of strength in his body. After a few seconds struggle, the hand detached from the forearm, leaving the monster unable to wield a blade. An even more horrible shriek followed that. Link shuddered, and swung his weapon at the Stalfos's skull. The razor-sharp blade punched straight through the tough bone, and the Stalfos fell to the ground, in pieces, before exploding into purple smoke.

Link straightened from his crouch, and quickly looked around for his next target. But something was already moving towards him. He turned, and saw a familiar foe. A large blue pig-like creature, floating above the brawl, with massive, bat-like ears, and alarmingly short legs. The creature had painted a circle around its eyes, one side blue, the other red. As he watched, it swelled to a massive size, and then deflated. Link's eyes narrowed. It could only be one thing. Frazz, master of icy fire. Somehow it had been resurrected. He shot the monster a few times with his bow, just to annoy it, and then sprinted away. Frazz's magic could decimate the remaining soldiers if they were too close to the fight. He eventually turned around in a larger courtyard, and was not disappointed to see the monster in hot (or was it cold? Or both?) pursuit. "You know how this ends, you demonic blue pig," Link growled, drawing his boomerang. "Now let's dance."

Frazz began flying around at a ferocious rate, swelling to ten times its usual size, and turning bright red. It spat three massive fireballs at Link, and then began to turn blue. As soon as the color change was complete, Link threw his boomerang at the flames burning on the cobblestone. The weapon caught of fire slightly, and he had lined it up perfectly so that it slammed into Frazz almost the instant the monster changed to blue. The clashing elements caused the demonic pig to shrink significantly from the hilariously bloated size that Frazz had previously been. A bizarre squeak emitted from the monster, and Link got a few respectable hits in before Frazz started levitating again. This time, it turned blue, but the massive swelling returned. It proceeded to belch a wave of icy magic all over the ground, missing Link by a good eight feet. He proceeded to do exactly the same thing that had damaged the pig thirty seconds prior; wait until it changes color, then get the boomerang covered in the cold energy, and hit the now fire enchanted monster, followed by a flurry of strikes with the Lokomo Sword. Link rolled his eyes. Why did these creatures never learn from what had just injured them? He'd hardly had that thought when Frazz split into two. Normal enough, the hero thought. It did that last time too. But then, the two split into two each, and then the resulting four split in half again. Link's eyes widened. "It didn't do that last time!" he shouted. By this point, however, a hurricane of ice and flame projectiles shrieked towards him.

Link dived behind the minimal protection of the fountain. It was painfully low to the ground, so he had to lie completely prone to avoid the maelstrom of magic. He looked around frantically for better cover, but the nearest was a good twenty feet away, and it was highly unlikely he would get half that distance. Octo-Frazz was clearly savoring this moment of power, as all of the monsters were taking their sweet time to get closer to him. Link grimaced. He'd have to risk making a break for it. He shot an arrow at the middle one, just to distract it for a second or two, then took off at a full sprint. Elemental energy whizzed past his ears, and he abruptly rolled to the right, making what would likely have been a painful hit smash into the road. Link rolled again, this time to the right, throwing off Octo-Frazz's aim further. I can't pull that off again, they're on to it, Link thought. And then he was at the overturned wagon that was the only available cover. His opponents were merely floating off, about fifteen yards away, pelting the wagon with projectiles. The sound of all that energy hitting the wood was not unlike rain on a tin roof. A mass of ice landed on the top of the cart loudly. The hero quickly used the residue to pick off a fire-based iteration of the pig off to the left. A quick squeak (or was it a hiss?) emitted from the monster, and suddenly, there were only seven left. However, at that, the remaining seven began growling remarkably loudly, and advanced slowly on him. Link quickly stuck his head out, and, even more quickly, nailed another of his foes, but now the magic was coming in too fast for even that little time exposed to be prudent. He grimaced. Things could get unpleasant awfully quickly if he didn't do something. The many iterations of Frazz were getting steadily closer, and there was little he could do about it.

Suddenly, a gold flash caught his eye, followed by rapid movement behind his blue, overweight nemesis. A glowing projectile slammed into the pig farthest from him, almost instantly disintegrating it. That caught their attention. Suddenly unwatched, Link darted out, and nailed another. Abruptly at half-strength, the masters of icy fire hurriedly retreated to cover, only exposing themselves for a second at most to sling energy at Link and his unknown benefactor. "You looked like you were in a bad spot there, Link," a voice behind him announced. He turned around quickly. There stood Princess Zelda, brandishing the Bow of Light. Link grinned ruefully. "I think I had them on my own, but thanks anyway." Zelda rolled her eyes, but changed the subject to the much more pressing matter at hand. "What are we going to do about them?" she asked, gesturing at the four monsters hiding out in a nearby building. By this point, they were so nervous of Link's boomerang and Zelda's bow, they weren't even staying out of cover long enough to aim, meaning that none of the magic was landing anywhere near the duo. Link shrugged. "I figure that there's a good chance those things are leading this attack, so if we deal with them, the monster army may retreat." Zelda thought for a moment, then nodded. "Let's deal with them, then." They proceeded to charge the building.

Unfortunately, the clones of Frazz were much smarter than the hero and princess gave them credit for. First of all, the pigs realized that Zelda couldn't fire accurately on the run, and if she stopped, they had enough time to duck down before getting nailed. Second, they realized Link couldn't harm them unless they fired at him first, and even then, only ice could damage the fire monsters, and vice versa. By sheer bad luck, the duo had eliminated three ice monsters, and only one fire, so as long as the remaining ice stayed in cover and didn't shoot, Link was not a threat. As a result, Zelda was the more important target. Third, they realized that if all three fire magicians lobbed their projectiles simultaneously, and put the shots in a V shaped pattern in front of Zelda, she would be very hard-pressed to dodge, given that she was at a full sprint, and probably couldn't stop on a dime. Fourth, they were technically still the same entity, so coordinating such a plan was remarkably easy. Link and Zelda hadn't seen any intelligent behavior, the only strategy so far just chuck so much energy that the target was overwhelmed, so neither expected a concise plan at this point. As a result, they got a nasty shock when the three monsters suddenly put the strategy into action.

Link was nearly at the building when it happened. He had enough time to wonder when the monsters had become to coordinated before they fired. Zelda fired back, but by this point, they were back in cover. It seemed to play out in slow motion. The extra time granted by this allowed Link plenty of time to realize that none of the magical flames were directed at him. His heart sank when he noticed that the three shots were led perfectly.

Zelda was at a full sprint when the three popped over the windowsill. She hurriedly pulled out an arrow, knowing it would probably miss, but hoping it might scare the Frazz clones back into cover. That's how it had worked a few times now. But not this one. They fired a volley of burning energy in her direction. The arrow was in flight at this point, but they were back behind the wall just too quickly. Just like it had for Link, time seemed to slow, giving her an opportunity to assess the situation. Three shots, one on a direct collision course, the other two to the left and right of the first, so she couldn't jump to the side. Sliding to the ground would avoid the projectiles, but on this brutally rough stone, a slide might do more damage than the magic. However, the center pig had messed up the angle slightly, and the shot was set to collide with her legs, slightly above the knee, as opposed to the other two, which were higher. Attempting to jump over it was looking like the only option. She threw herself into the air, and then...

Link's eyes widened as he saw Zelda leap as high as she could. He felt a surge of excitement. She was going to clear it! And then the small fireball jerked upward about six inches. Somehow, their opponents could adjust projectiles in midair. Thankfully, it didn't lodge itself in her abdomen, that would have taken a few more inches. But it smashed into her left foot on the way by.

The sheer force of the impact took Zelda's breath away. It felt like Link's train had hit her foot at full speed. In addition to the immediate searing pain in that area, she actually began to spin in the air thanks to the power behind that projectile.

Link's stomach churned. She was actually rotating in the air from the impact. The landing was going to be unpleasant, or even fatal if she landed on her head.

Roughly the same thoughts were running through Zelda's head. Thankfully, the downward momentum from the impact was being countered by the irresistible force of gravity, but she had spun almost ninety degrees forward.

She hit the ground very hard. Time slowed even further for Link, almost to a stop entirely, then suddenly returned to normal speed. Zelda had landed on her right shoulder, head coming down almost last. Link breathed a sigh of relief. Given the horrible circumstances, that was almost best-case scenario. A squeak from the building shook him back to the present. She was either unconscious, or worse, so it was his job to eliminate the magicians responsible. Link saw red. Those pigs would pay for this. He scooped up the Bow of Light, and charged the house. The door was shut and probably locked, but he was determined to eliminate the monsters who hurt his closest friend. At the last second, right before hitting the door, he threw himself into the air, curling up into a ball as he did so. At this point, he was essentially a human cannonball. The building itself was extremely old, and had not been lived in for almost thirty years, so the soft wooden door, fragile in the first place, was in bad shape. He smashed straight through the dilapidated timber. His already bruised left shoulder had led the way, and was now quite painful, but he'd worry about that later. He looked up, his murderous glare met by four pairs of eyes. His voice was a guttural growl when he spoke. "Hello. I am the Hero of Spirit. You may have killed my friend. Prepare to die."

The Bow of Light was in his hands almost before he had the thought to put it there, and an arrow on the string even faster. He drew, aimed, and released in less time than it takes to say it. One of the three fire-based opponents suddenly ceased exist. He fired again and wiped another off the face of the earth. By now though, the element of surprise from his insane entry was gone, and the other two, one ice, one fire, were prepared. However, now it was just the fight from Link's adventure in the Snow Temple. The two circled him, moving erratically enough to make a bow hit just about impossible. They were refusing to take shots at him, however. Link took several deep breaths. I need to calm down and get my head back in this fight, he thought. He shook his head violently to clear it. That's better. Now I just need to hit these things. They were still in the confined space of the house, so that was an advantage in Link's favor. Suddenly, he had an idea. He pulled an arrow put of his quiver, and nocked it. The monsters looked noticeably wary at this, and moved slightly closer to make a bow shot harder. However, this was just what the hero was counting on. He suddenly leaped into the air, and, arrow still on the string, brought the bow down on an incarnation of Frazz's skull. The arrow, powered up by the Bow of Light, melted that particular opponent. There was just one left now. The pig finally decided to start chucking magic, ice in this case, at Link, and in such a tight space, it was quite dangerous. He shook his head. If he stayed in this small house, the odds he'd die were quite respectable. On the other hand, if he led it out into the square outside, Zelda would inevitably get hit by the monster, be it intentional or otherwise. As long as there was a chance she was unconscious, not dead, he'd have to risk staying inside. A heavy impact to Link's right arm shook him out of his thoughts, knocking the hero to the ground. A wave of pain swept through his body. He inhaled sharply. "That hurt a lot more than it did last time," he groaned through gritted teeth. He stood unsteady, and immediately had to leap to the side to avoid another blast. The landing furthered the contusion on his left shoulder. Link could barely move that arm at all by this point. Frazz suddenly flew forward terrifyingly quickly, and crashed into the hero, sending him painfully to the hard wood floor again, his head hitting the hardest this time.

Frazz began cackling increasingly loudly as the hero lay on the ground. Link forced his eyes open. A jolt of panic shot through him as he thought he saw two of the monster again. He tried to sit up, but a massive flare of pain behind his eyes, accompanied by a wave of nausea, stopped that effort quickly. Formal schooling in Adoba Village had been minimal, but he'd learned quite a bit about common injuries as a soldier-in-training, and all the symptoms he was experiencing pointed to a nasty concusshine. Wait, concusshine? That didn't seem right. Whatever the actual name was, it consisted of a heavy blow to the head, causing the brain to stop behaving normally. He couldn't remember any more details than that. The two monsters were moving identically, so Link's pounded brain was able to discern that he was probably seeing double. Eventually, they merged back into one, removing the nagging fear he was seeing correctly, and there were two. He groaned. This headache was agonizing. Was Frazz moving closer? He wasn't sure. Everything was incredibly blurry, and his depth perception was almost nonexistent. However, Link felt the monster's breath of his forehead, so it was probably close? He tried to swing his fist at his opponent, but could only manage a feeble twitch. His hand brushed something wood, and vaguely round. Was that a hint of warmth? He forced his head to the side. Was it... The Bow of Light! It was off to his left, and, between the contusion (or worse), and the head injury, grabbing the weapon would be extremely difficult and painful. Link gritted his teeth, and moved as quickly and smoothly as he could. His fingers met the wood once again, and managed to close around it. Frazz didn't look concerned, he thought. No, the monster looked... amused? Happy? Neither emotion made sense, given its greatest foe had grabbed the only weapon capable of destroying it. It even smiled? That thing was even capable of such an action? Suddenly, it swooped down, and planted its foot in Link's already shredded left shoulder. He cried out in pain. That had almost certainly dislocated it. The pig seemed pleased by the response, cackling maniacally. It was a horrible, metallic sound, grating on the hero's nerves. The painful noice was probably meant to make his last moments a bit harder before the monster finished him off, and it began moving closer menacingly for that purpose. However the exact opposite happened. Something in Link just snapped. He rolled over incredibly quickly, ignoring the crushing pain as his shredded limb took his full body weight. His right hand seized the weapon in a fierce grip, and he shot to his feet. Pure rage alone kept him up, as the worst pain he'd ever felt shot through his forehead like a spearpoint that had spend three hours in a bonfire. Link's vision began to go dark, and, with a final, superhuman effort, he drove the arrow, still nocked on the bow, into Frazz's abdomen. The monster let out an unearthly shriek, half surprised and half terrified, before melting away into nothing, and the hero was unconscious before he hit the ground.

**Author's note: Ok, first of all, this chapter was supposed to go completely differently. The whole battle scene was completely unplanned, and then, I suddenly had a 2,700 word boss battle. The plan was for much more plot progression, but I couldn't turn down the whole thing once it got started. Wow. I always wondered what authors meant when they say a chapter writes itself. Also, did anybody catch the reference I hid in there? I changed the wording a lot, because I refused to outright announce if Zelda died or not (in all seriousness, I haven't decided yet), but hopefully, it's not TOO unnoticeable. On another note, "What in New Hyrule south of the Tower of Spirit" has no particular meaning, it's just intended to be a hilarious exclamation. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, but any idea at all seems better in your head than it actually is. I'll likely go back through and rewrite chapter one now. Before you lose your minds, I plan on adding a ton of story, not just changing the wording. Hopefully, it won't take as long as this one did... sorry about that by the way. But it's here. See you next mission!**


	3. It's a Secret to Everybody

**I'm not dead! What's it been, three months since I updated last? Ugh, sorry about that. You'd think being stuck at home would have given me more time to write, but alas, it wasn't to be. But you're probably here to forget about the state of the world right now, so I'll move on. This one was a pain to write, and I had a heck of a time with some of the dialogue. I'm still not completely happy with it, but we'll be waiting another three months if that's the goal. Just an advance warning, you can probably tell where I came back after the mont and a half hiatus. Hopefully it doesn't kill this chapter too badly... In any event, here it is. The third chapter of The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Timelines. Enjoy! **

Chapter Three

The Lynel approached slowly, menacingly, but the Hero of Hyrule was not afraid. He had faced dozens of the horse and human hybrid during the first of his two quests, and they were barely even a threat now. He drew the Magical Sword and waited for the foe to approach. The Lynel began by firing a beam at Link, but he coolly knocked it aside with his shield. The Magic Rod was already in his hand, and he planted a projectile in the monster's face. It reared back with a roar, and lost focus on the figure before it for just a few seconds. That was all he ever needed. Link threw himself onto the creature's back, stabbing his sword deep into its skull. The beast quickly went limp and exploded, leaving a single rupee behind. Link himself was barely even breathing heavily. He scooped up the cash and walked off.

After a short walk, he arrived in the small town of Ruto. It was a fairly ordinary little village, with no more than thirty inhabitants and a handful of houses. Possibly the most (and only) unique aspect of the settlement was the massive barn-like structure in the center. Link sighed. He'd always wanted to know the purpose of the building, but everybody he spoke to about it either quickly changed the subject, or announced that they knew nothing about it. However, that wasn't to say the inhabitants were useless. The elder had taught him the Jump Spell during his second adventure, which had definitely come in handy. And yet, the barn continued to annoy him... It wasn't important, he told himself. The hero was there for a reason, after all. Link walked up to a door, and knocked a few times. "Come in," a deep voice announced from inside.

Closing the door behind him, Link turned to find his gaze met by a heavyset, bearded man. He smiled at the hero, his deep voice seeming to shake the house, despite the low volume. "I am Error," the man declared. Link sighed. "I know that, you tell me every time I enter your house." Error looked at him quizzically. "Is that not normal?" The hero sighed again, and changed the subject. "I killed the Lynel you asked me to. Hopefully that's the last of the large monsters in this area." The bearded man's face split into a grateful smile. "Thank you very much for that. People were too afraid to enter or leave the village, and trade had ground to a halt. We were running low on supplies." Link scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "It was nothing. Just doing my job." Error shook his hand. "Regardless, you have my thinks. What are you planning on doing now that this area is free from monsters?" The hero sighed. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I can't really go back to a normal life after two adventures." Error was visibly saddened by this statement. "Well, whatever you wind up doing, good luck, Link. The world as we know it wouldn't exist without your efforts." Link smiled sadly. Thanking the villager, he headed back out the door, into Ruto and beyond.

* * *

"Wait, why is a Wizzrobe sneaking around in a town like this?" he muttered under his breath. It seemed incredible, but there was no denying it. A monster had been loitering in Ruto for an extended period of time, and nobody had died. Heck, nobody had even noticed the magician. Link was positioned at roughly the monster's seven o'clock, and it hadn't seen him yet. He approached quietly, definitely not wanting to be spotted. If one of those things hit you with a blast of magic, you would know about it for days. It hurt like almost nothing else had during his adventures. He drew the Magical Sword, and drew close. "I hope you aren't up to anything underhanded while in this town," Link growled menacingly. The monster leaped a good three feet in surprise, turning in the air to face him. "Th-the hero!" It stuttered in a panic. "I believe I have been called that," the teen in question responded. "Now, what are you doing here, and why should I not take this blade to your hide this instant?" The monster's bright white eyes widened, contrasting further the blackness caused by the hood. "I-I can explain! Please let me explain!" The creature shouted frantically. That had to have attracted unnecessary attention, Link thought. I need to get this thing out of the street. Looking around, his eyes lit upon a large house nearby that he knew for a fact was abandoned. He sighed. "Can you teleport inside that red brick house, and explain there? There's no point in attracting attention by having this conversation in the middle of the street." It nodded quickly, and flickered for a few seconds, then disappeared completely. What would cause a dangerous monster to appear in a settlement like this and not attack? Link sighed again. "One way to find out," he said to himself.

The hero stepped through the door and into the relative darkness of the house. Nobody had lived in it in at least two years, since the previous inhabitants had been killed by a monster raid shortly before his second adventure. In fact, it had been that group of Leevers and Moblins that had caused him to start wondering if an evil was returning. Closing said door behind him wrapped the room in almost complete darkness. He pulled out the Red Candle, and quickly lit a torch on the wall. A bright red shape in the corner told him that the monster had actually waited in the house for him. And it hadn't blasted him as he'd been silhouetted against the bright sunlight outside. Interesting. He sighed for a third time. It sure was a day for sighs. "First of all, do you have a name? I can't just go on thinking of you as 'That Wizzrobe' in my head." The creature squeaked nervously. "I do, in fact have a name. I am known as Wizak." Link's eyebrows shot up, his mind racing. He didn't know Wizzrobes had names. Are they perhaps more than the mindless servants of evil he had always thought they were? And this one's behavior... it seemed nervous, even afraid. Was that simply his reputation at work? Did he have a reputation among the monsters? He eventually realized that it (what pronoun do you use? Do Wizzrobes have genders?) was staring at him in apprehension, waiting for a response. "Very well, Wizak, why are you in the town of Ruto?" The magician was shaking at this point. "T-to look for you. B-but not for the reason you think," Wizak added hastily, as the hero took a step forward. "Here I am," Link responded flatly. "What do you want?" The Wizzrobe shook his cowled head. "Some evil force is attempting to reunite the former army of darkness. It calls itself Luhomu. But not to rule Hyrule. No, this force wants to use... something in the sky? I didn't quite catch that part of the speech... to wipe the entire world from existence. I don't particularly want to be destroyed, and you seemed like the only one that could stop this. As the old saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Link's eyebrows shot up. Of all the things that Wizak could have told him, this was perhaps the most surprising. A monster requesting his help to defeat other monsters? It seemed incredible. Could this whole situation be a trap? That would appear the most likely scenario, but something inside the hero just trusted the Wizrobe. But even with that admittedly questionable trust, he was definitely going to proceed with caution. But if this tale was true, the entire world was at risk. He just couldn't take that chance. Wizak had been staring at him this whole time, the magician's eyes showing an unmistakable light of both hope and nervousness. That was the final straw. Either this thing really knew how to act, or it was all true. Link nodded slowly. "I believe you. What needs to be done?"

Wizak's eyes lit up with relief. "First of all, we need to do more research about this villain. There is time, it hasn't even come close to convincing the monsters to follow this insane plot." Link raised an eyebrow. "We?" He got the impression that the Wizrobe frowned in return, but there was no way to tell through the shadows of that ubiquitous hood. "Of course 'we'. I'm coming with you. And before you object, I live on this world too. Plus, you'll likely need somebody who speaks Lokxfem -that's the language that monsters speak, as well as the word we use to describe ourselves- and, to my knowledge, no Hylian has ever lived long enough in the presence of something that speaks it to learn. So you kind of need me anyway." Link shook his head resignedly. "It's going to be a very interesting however long this'll take, that's for sure."

* * *

The very peculiar duo set out from Ruto a short time later. Link had purchased the necessary supplies; namely bombs, arrows, and food. Wizak had informed him that Wizrobes do eat, but Link wouldn't want any part of it. Raw, sometimes even still alive, rodents were considered a delicacy among the ranks of the magicians. Link shuddered at the thought. They must have formidable immune systems to not die as a result of that diet. That or they simply were immune to diseases through magic. Wizak had brought all his own food, so hopefully the hero wouldn't have to think about it again. Near-miraculously, nobody had noticed the red-cloaked figure when he had first entered the town, but getting out would be trickier. Red Wizrobes couldn't teleport to places that they couldn't see, unless they were extremely familiar with it. On the other hand, Blue Wizrobes could phase through solid objects, but couldn't disappear entirely. Which one an individual monster chose was completely preference, and, theoretically, there was no outside influence. However, there was a slight, but undeniable, bias toward blue in the hierarchy, so slightly more young Wizrobes chose blue. In this situation, blue would probably have been more useful, given Wizak couldn't get out of the building easily without teleporting a very long distance away. But he had chosen red, and stood firmly by that decision. As a result, Link had needed to open the door slightly, far enough to see through, but not far enough to let a significant amount of light through. Wizak had been able to see a grove of trees outside the village, and had teleported there. The sun was very low in the west at this point, so the shadows were deep enough to conceal his bright red robes. By the time Link had done all the shopping necessary, night had fallen. The hero knew of a cave to the south that they could spend the night in, so they walked for an hour or two through the darkness before arriving. The cave had filled to the brim with monsters during Link's second adventure, but thankfully, it had emptied after his success. He volunteered to take the first watch, just in case, and Wizak had wasted no time falling asleep and was now snoring softly. The hero raised an eyebrow. How many Hylians had ever been in close enough proximity to a monster like this to actually hear snoring? It had to be a very small number. However, all of a sudden, a massive crack rang through the cavern.

Link jumped to his feet, and saw a massive hole in the back wall. Octoroks began pouring through in astonishing numbers, lobbing that famous, underpowered rock project at the duo. The hero gave up counting fairly quickly, stopping at twenty-eight, but they just kept coming. Wizak had jumped to his feet and was shouting in some other language (Link assumed it was that Lokxfem), but to little avail. He looked at Link and shrugged. "I tried." Having said that, he quickly resorted to the Wizrobe race's ubiquitous method of diplomacy; blast the target with magic beams until they fell over, rinse and repeat. Link noted with intrest that it wasn't just the classic beam that was being fired. No, it was the upgraded version he himself had received after studying the Book of Magic. The smell of fried octopus filled the cave quickly. But there were so many. He chucked a few bombs, wiping out a half-dozen each time, but there had to be eighty of the monsters in the cave at this point. "We need to give up some ground!" he shouted. "Pull back to that narrow part closer to the entrance!" Wizak nodded briefly, and teleported away. Link pulled out his candle, threw up a temporary wall of flame, and promptly made a break for the area of the cave he'd indicated. A minute's sprint got him to his destination. A red-cloaked figure was waiting for him, slapping a beam into the horde chasing him down. "I have an idea," Wizak announced. "But it requires me standing perfectly still, and not fighting, for a fair amount of time." Link grimaced. "Try it. Hopefully I can hang on." He shield-bashed yet another monster off to the side, and moved closer to the unprotected magician. Only three bombs left, at this point. If this idea didn't work...

Wizak had been standing perfectly still, eyes closed, for the best part of two minutes. The hero had taken quite a few hits by this point. No major injuries yet, but he was being slowly worn down by the seemingly endless horde. A rock-like projectile smashed into his left shin, and he groaned loudly in response. Hopefully, it wasn't broken. Suddenly, Wizak's eyes snapped open. The Wizrobe suddenly appeared much larger, more menacing, and he gave the Octoroks a glare that could almost fry them on the spot. "Inferno!" he bellowed, the rocks themselves shaking at the sound. A wave of flame came from... well, Link had no idea where, and threw itself onto the monsters. The sound was horrible; not unlike bacon frying, interspersed with high-pitched shrieks of pain. Link began coughing as the smoke filled the cave, and sprinted back to the entrance as fast as his bruised leg would allow. After the extreme heat in the cave, the night air felt great. He glanced up as Wizak strolled casually out. "By the Triforce, if I had know Wizrobes could do that, I wouldn't have entered Death Mountain all those years ago." Wizak shrugged. "Most can't pull that off without destroying themselves. Supposedly, I'm special, or something. What happened to your leg?"

* * *

They set out the next morning. The area where the monsters had set up camp was a short walk, perhaps an hour, away. Thankfully, Link had several red potions, so his leg was fully healed by this point. "So, what's the plan?" Wizak asked him. The hero thought for a moment. "Well, to be honest, I'm not sure. I'd like to see the actual camp before setting anything in stone."

"That makes sense, I guess. I've never been much of a planner."

"Well, when you can light dozens of enemies on fire simultaneously, there's no need."

Wizak emitted a strange sound at that. It almost sounded like... a snicker? "True enough. But I'd rather not use it at the camp. Most of those monsters aren't evil, just being manipulated and possibly possessed. Besides, there's far too many anyway." Link nodded slowly. "So don't kill anything unless I absolutely have to?"

"Something like that, yeah."

"Very well, I'll do what I can in that regard. But if things turn south..."

Wizak shrugged. "That's all I can ask. After all, I'm basically telling you to sneak into the most hostile place in existence for you, without too much in the way of details. I don't have many myself, to be honest. All I know is that something is very wrong. In any event," he said, returning to the subject, "The camp should be just over the next ridge. We can finally get a good look at what's going on."

A massive valley spread out before them, littered with small streams of water, the occasional blue breaking up the constant brown of the mountain foothills as the former tumbled its way down to the ocean. With Death Mountain to the north, and the Great Lake to the south, approaching in force without being detected was no easy task. Between the two landmarks sat a mess of tents. There had to be at least one hundred in total. That meant an alarming number of monsters. The tents themselves were small, enough for three at most, and set up in strangely organized rows. A larger tent sat in the middle, presumably where the leader was staying. Wizak noticeably shuddered at the sight of it. "Luhomu has them living in tents? Disgusting. We need to stop this." Link looked over in surprise. "You're that opposed to tents?"

"Yes, it's unnatural. Monsters live in caves, not tents. Whatever that... thing... is, it's changing far too much to be trusted. We need to eliminate it."

"I don't disagree, but that seems like a really excessive reaction to tents."

Wizak's yellow eyes burned into him. "It's not like humans. You live in just about anywhere. Cave, house, tent, you name it. But with monsters, the overwhelming mindset is incredibly stubborn. The last time somebody proposed anything like this, they were decapitated less than ten seconds later. Luhomu must be using mind control or something."

"I see. That makes more sense than just being opposed to tents."

"It does. But you said you wanted to see it before making a plan. Anything come to mind?"

Link studied the camp closely. "It's pretty spread out. I think I could slip through the gaps between the tent lines if I was careful about it. If it was humans, I'd go at night. Does the dark improve monsters' eyesight or smell or something like that?"

"It does. You'd be spotted for sure if you tried to go without the sun. As it is, the sentries are probably the only ones that would see you if you punched them in the face. Most of those monsters absolutely detest bright light, another reason to be concerned they aren't in a cave."

"So basically, get past the guards, and it should be easy."

"Something like that," Wizak confirmed. "But if Luhomu spots you, it can probably overrule the dislike of the sun and get the whole horde on your tail. And that's before assuming it has the ability to kill you itself."

"Slip past the sentries, sneak through a camp, avoid getting detected by some incredibly powerful monster leader that I don't even know what it looks like. Just another day in my crazy life." Link sighed. "Anything else I need to know?"

"Not really. Trust me, you'll know Luhomu when you see it. I can't properly describe it in your language, because the correct words don't really exist. But you'll know it. Besides, I am coming too, so I'll just tell you if we find it by mistake."

"Brilliant," the hero muttered under his breath. "Let's do this."

They set off down the hill. The first line of defense was at the base, watching attentively for any sign of an intruder. After a bit more research, Link noticed something. The closest sentry was a Gibdo, and looked nearly unconscious just from being exposed to the sun. He advanced slowly. The monster was seemingly fascinated by the dirt beneath its feet and didn't spot him. He slowly moved around it, fearing sudden movements would draw its eyes. Suddenly, the Gibdo raised its eyes and stared directly at him. The grotesque mouth opened seemingly in slow motion as it prepared to raise the alarm. Link stepped forward quickly and clubbed it on the head with his Magic Rod, and it fell to the ground with an uncomfortably loud crash. He winced at the sound, but nothing seemed to have heard it. Wizak suddenly teleported directly next to him, and he almost jumped out of his skin in surprise. "Don't do that, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" he whispered fiercely. Wizak looked at him curiously. "Do what?" Link shook his head. "Never mind. Which way now?" The Wizrobe pointed to the left. "That's the way to the main camp. What are you planning on doing once we get there?" Link didn't respond, and set off in that direction.

The camp itself was fairly easy to navigate, given how organized it was. No monster horde had ever lined up tents this neatly. The command tent was already visible, and he headed straight for it. It was definitely large enough for what he was afraid was in there. He took a deep breath. Being stealthy here wouldn't help anybody. It was time to be direct. He walked right up to the command tent and threw the screen open.

The interior was surprisingly dark given the time of day. The shadows nearly concealed the being that stood waiting. Four muscular legs led to a massive green body, adorned by almost comically small wings. A very long neck was topped by a single head. Spikes lined the creature's back, and a short, stubby tail was barely visible around the monster's bulk. "I've been waiting for you, Link," it hissed in a quiet, creepy voice. He laughed aloud. "Aquamentus? Seriously? I killed you in two hits in the seventh dungeon of my first adventure." The monster chuckled, the deep, booming sound seeming to fill the air like a plume of smoke. "Is that what this body is called? A fitting name I suppose. But you seem to have missed the real threat here, much greater than merely a dragon. Much greater by far." Link looked closer. Aquamentus was wearing something on that contemptible face. It had almost blended into the darkness perfectly. A mask, heart-shaped, spikes running around the edges. Red and blue coloring surrounded the two massive orange eyes, with strange, green pupils in the center. Its gaze seemed to bore into Link like a spear, searching, always searching. No secret was safe; those eyes seemed to look directly into your mind. The hero frowned. He'd never seen this mask before. Why was it so familiar? He pushed those thoughts aside. "Who are you, and how does a mask become sentient anyway?" The mask started shaking violently on the dragon's face. "If you don't know who I am already, you'll likely never find out. As for the second... your brain is likely incapable of comprehension. A pity really, you'll never learn just how much you have to fear."

Wizak burst into the tent, breathing heavily. "Link, why in the name of everything you humans consider holy would you just march into the tent like that? Good thing there's nothing here..." Another deep, sinister chuckle filled the air. "So this is the traitorous Wizrobe that led the hero to me. Perhaps I should... dispose of you, as a warning to the rest of my followers. A shame, really. So much power... But alas, you had to go and make a fool of yourself." Wizak glared at the creature. "I didn't want to betray everything I've ever known, but it was preferable to watching an insane inanimate object destroy the entire world. You left me no choice." Having said his piece, he lobbed a beam of magic at the possessed dragon. It impacted on the scaly hide, but there was no cry of pain. "Did you seriously think a blast that weak would even scratch this body? Incomprehensible. There's no power in all of Hyrule that could hit hard enough for me to just feel it." It began cackling maniacally. The sound was chilling, terrifying in its own right, regardless of the monster that had created it. Suddenly, Link rolled to to side, disappearing into the shadows at the edge of the tent. The head turned quickly to follow him, and Wizak threw a beam at the disgustingly long neck while it was exposed. He put much more authority behind this one, and the head snapped back before righting itself and turning back to look at its new antagonist. Immediately, Link leaped out of the darkness, and landed on Aquamentus's back. Drawing the Magical Sword that he had so long ago mastered using, he drove it into the back of the monster's neck. The possessed dragon let put a horrible shriek, twitching violently enough to throw the hero off. He landed heavily, but thankfully suffered nothing worse than the wind being knocked out of him. "Impressive, most impressive. Unfortunately for you, the damage was minor. Now, are you ready to be destroyed?"

"No, not particularly," Link wheezed. That seemed to annoy the monster. "Well too bad!" It inhaled sharply, and quickly exhaled equally sharply, spewing fire around the tent. Link threw his shield, but he had time to watch it disintegrate in his hand before the wall of flame slammed into his body, and all went dark.

**Oh boy, cliffhangers! I probably have a bit of explaining to do about that villain reveal. Termina is tied to Hyrule, so theoretically, it exists even in a different timeline, right? Unless it was created by Link's mind in Majora's Mask... That's a pretty controversial subject in the community, so I won't delve into it. But in this fi****ctional universe within a fictional universe, Termina is a real place that the mask can leave at will. We saw it in Hyrule in the opening cutscene of MM, so the second part is reasonable. So for some reason, Majora came to Hyrule, and picked a host with a some power and connections to Ganon's old monster army. Huh, that sounds like it requires a prequel story to explain. Oh boy. In any event, I hope you didn't hate it too much. But if you saw something you didn't like, please say something in the reviews. I don't want to sound like I'm begging for feedback here, but I'm not going to get better without knowing how I'm messing up. But that's enough ranting from me. See you next mission!**

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**Review responses:**

**Some Tomfool: Thanks! Don't worry, we'll get there. Just hang on.**

**Brownsquirrel: I'm glad you liked it! Here's that next chapter!**


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